Grandfather of Rotherham abuse scandal victim tells police and crime
commissioner Shaun Wright: "If I had a gun I would shoot you" as panel
set up to scrutinise him passes vote of no confidence

Victims of child sex abuse in Rotherham confronted beleaguered police and crime commissioner Shaun Wright on Thursday as he faced angry calls from members of the public to resign.

The victims accused Mr Wright of turning a blind eye to their suffering, while the grandfather of one young girl branded him a “disgrace” and threatened to shoot him when he appeared to answer questions at a meeting of South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Panel.

The man, who said his granddaughter was abused by four men who were later let off by police, shouted from the public gallery: “You were a disgrace, mate. If I had a gun I would shoot you."

Later the panel, set up to scrutinise the work of the PCC, passed a vote of no confidence in Mr Wright. It said it had also referred two complaints about him to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

The IPCC, which can investigate PCCs if there is evidence they may have committed a crime, said it was assessing the referrals before deciding whether to proceed with an inquiry.

Amid angry and heated scenes, victims and members of the public asked why Mr Wright was still in his £85,000 –year job while members of the English Defence League walked out in protest.

Members of the public protest outside Rotherham Town Hall (Getty Images)

One victim said to Mr Wright: "Alarm bells were ringing since I was11-years-old and not at one time did I get offered any support from social services or the police."

"How can you sit there and deny everything you've done? How can you do it?

She added: "I've had to live with this for 12 years and what have you done? You' ve still got your job."

In response, Mr Wright – who was booed and heckled - said: "The young ladies in the public gallery, without a shadow of a doubt, have been let down and they deserve every course of support and every course of justice."

Mr Wright has so far resisted widespread and repeated top-level calls for him to resign since the publication of the Jay Report into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, which detailed how at least 1,400 children were subjected to horrors including rape, violence and trafficking for sex between 1997 and 2013.

Before his election to PCC in 2012, he was a councillor in Rotherham for more than a decade and was the member of the council with responsibility for children's services from 2005 to 2010.

At the meeting on Thursday, Mr Wright repeated his claim that he was not aware of the scale of the scandal.

"Many people have called for me to resign, I fully accept that and some of the reasons for that, but my belief is that everybody shares the responsibility for keeping children and young people safe," he said.

Shaun Wright attends a South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel meeting at Rotherham Town Hall

"It takes a community to raise a child and takes a community to safeguard a child. And I believe that's been involved in delivering those services, either locally or nationally, in whatever tier of government they are needs to check their own consciences..."

As an elected figure, Mr Wright cannot be forced out of office but Theresa May, the Home Secretary, has signalled support for the introduction of recall powers for failing PCCs, which would mean they could be removed before the end of their four-year term.

After the vote of no confidence, Harry Harpham, a Labour councillor and chairman of the police and crime panel, said he would also be writing to Mrs May to endorse the calls for a change in the law on PCCs so they can be sacked in "exceptional circumstances".

One panel member, Ukip's Caven Vines, said he was resigning from the committee, claiming that, among other things, that he could not work with Mr Wright any longer.

Rotherham and Sheffield councils have already passed votes of no confidence in the commissioner.